Luffas are sponges which are of diverse origin, especially Chinese, Korean and Brazilian, which comprises a cellular inner skeleton or body (interior) constituted of fibrous material having absorbent properties which have been found to be especially valuable in the fabrication of inner soles for footwear of various types.
In order to facilitate an understanding of the invention reference will be made from time to time herein to such articles. However, inner soles are merely a preferred product of the invention and the best mode currently known for practicing it. Naturally other products and articles can be made in accordance with the same principles and the invention is not to be considered to be limited to the production of inner soles except insofar as the production thereof may be specifically claimed. In other words, the application to inner soles is an art-limiting example of the principles of the invention.
In the production of luffa inner soles it has been a perennial problem to obtain luffas of sufficient size to permit the inner soles to be cut therefrom, particularly where the articles themselves are comparatively large. Such luffas usually come from China and the availability is irregular. Independently of the fact that large size luffas are increasingly a rarity and difficult to obtain, the cost is so high as to preclude their economical use in the production of absorbent inner soles. Nowadays, at least, only a pair of inner soles at best can be made from each luffa. Scraps are significant.